Then vs Than.

[<G>]

They were saying "than" - it's the Kiwi pronunciation that makes it sound like "then" - have you heard how some Kiwis say Ellen/Allan - can you really tell the difference? And what about bear and beer - another favourite.

[rat biker 08]

Who the hell cars cares .

[samgab]

They were saying "than" - it's the Kiwi pronunciation that makes it sound like "then" - have you heard how some Kiwis say Ellen/Allan - can you really tell the difference? And what about bear and beer - another favourite.

Lol, I am a "Kaiwai"... I'm talking about typed communication, not verbal.

[samgab]

We have spell check ?

In Firefox.

[short-circuit]

Lol, I am a "Kaiwai"... I'm talking about typed communication, not verbal.

Where have you seen this?

[Edbear]

we have this documentary series on the English language how it has evolved and still is evolving... its very interesting.. you'd be surprised what you are saying and its origins... and how the language is now the most use language (and that includes chiness, as they use English to conduct business with other countries etc) there are now sub categories in the language as different countries are starting to get there own dialect

Yeah, I read exerpts from the English language some years ago and I think from memory, I couldn't read back further than about the 16th Cent. It does irk me that people seem to have an almost perverse antagonism to speaking or writing correctly, but I suppose Aristotle would have felt the same. I doubt it's a new problem.

[James Deuce]

"Thou" instead of "though" is a vastly more cretinous crime.

[Mom]

We have spell check ?

Apparently some of us do. We dont seem to have it no matter which browser we open. We rely on the education we received, our superior intelligence, the dictionary and a shed load of luck to get it right for the most part

I doubt it's a new problem.

Yes I agree, you are an old fart

[Edbear]

Apparently some of us do. We dont seem to have it no matter which browser we open. We rely on the education we received, our superior intelligence, the dictionary and a shed load of luck to get it right for the most part



Yes I agree, you are an old fart

Hey, just because me and Aristotle go way back...

and my farts only smell old...

[steve_t]

They were saying "than" - it's the Kiwi pronunciation that makes it sound like "then" - have you heard how some Kiwis say Ellen/Allan - can you really tell the difference? And what about bear and beer - another favourite.

Well done with 'pronunciation'. My old english teacher's pet peeve was people saying 'pronounciation'... quite frankly I think it should be 'pronounciation'!!!

[Ragingrob]

Almost as bad as the 'there/their/they're' difficulties some people somehow have.

[MsKABC]

My pet hate is this:

"I should of gone to the movies." "I could of done that."

It's have, FFS!! I should have gone to the movies. I could have done that.

Thank you, as you were.

[chasio]

I've managed to largely tune out on the intraweb (forums and the like) because if I can understand it, I figure that it's not an issue. But what really grates with me is when people publish or print with crass errors.

The Herald is prone to awful errors popping up on the website and even in the paper itself. It almost makes me miss England.

But try beating this copy from a large scale bus-stop advert for a pair of real estate agents that appeared a short while ago around here. I don't remember their names but if I ever see either of them, I hope I am not armed:

Other's maybe selling
Our's are sold

(sic)

So short and yet, so very wrong. That someone should have paid a printer to waste ink and paper on such an abomination would make me shudder every time I rode past it.

Sadly, most schools teach neither grammar nor spelling effectively: it is no longer a priority and some teachers leave a lot to be desired themselves. Combine that with the fact that so many kids do most of their reading online and I cannot imagine that it is likely to improve.

So ill just have to learn how 2 ignore all there mistake's insted.

Cheers - Chasio

PS Hopefully all errors are deliberate but if not, it's a forum after all!

[NDORFN]

Here's one for ya then... Say a place called "John's Bar". Take the apostrophe between the 'n' and the 's' in John's. What the fuck is that for? I was taught that an apostrophe denotes a missing letter or letters ie. Don't = do not. I was also taught that in the case of a name preceeding something that belongs to them, the use of an apostrophe denotes the belonging to ie "Johns' Bar", yet I rarely see it used. Proof read this smarty pantses! Or is it "Pants's"? Or "Pants'"?

[samgab]

Here's one for ya then... Say a place called "John's Bar". Take the apostrophe between the 'n' and the 's' in John's. What the fuck is that for? I was taught that an apostrophe denotes a missing letter or letters ie. Don't = do not. I was also taught that in the case of a name preceding something that belongs to them, the use of an apostrophe denotes the belonging to ie "Johns' Bar", yet I rarely see it used. Proof read this smarty pantses! Or is it "Pants's"? Or "Pants'"?

Hey. Well, it is used for contractions, yes. "It is" becoming "it's".
Also to denote ownership, or possessive nouns. "That's John's bike". Not a contraction in that case, just the rule for ownership, John owns the bike.
The apostrophe coming afterward is when there is a plural, using ownership -- or if it is a name that ends in "s" anyway.
For instance: No no, it's Jesus' bike.
Or if it's a possessive plural: "Those are the bikes' attachments". There are multiple bikes, and the attachments belong to them.
"The Johns' Bar" would be correct if 2 or more people by the name of John owned the bar. If there is only one John who owns the bar, it's John's bar.
Clear as mud?

PS: I have no clue, I'm making it up as I go